Brad Lazarowich is one of the men responsible for calling penalties in hockey these days, but he can still empathize with the players when he recalls his minor hockey playing days at the Prince George Coliseum.
The 28-year National Hockey League linesman returned to the Coliseum ice this week to educate young officials, but it's likely memories stirred in his mind about the time he broke his leg.
"I was a guy digging the puck out of the corner and I got smoked," said Lazarowich. "The referee didn't [call] a penalty on the play either."
The 50-year-old recalled being driven in his dad's truck to the hospital, where he was treated for a broken leg. The incident happened during his days playing minor hockey - he called Prince George home between ages six and 12 before the family moved back to Vancouver, where he still resides.
Lazarowich was in Prince George Tuesday and Wednesday in conjunction with the Spruce Kings annual hockey camp, which added an officials component this year. After working with the B.C. Hockey League last fall during the NHL lockout, Lazarowich said he decided to make his job official at the league's annual general meeting in June, becoming the associate director of officiating for the BCHL.
"I just wanted to find something to do and be busy and stay in the hockey world," he said, adding his daughters, 23 and 19, were busy with their lives in university. "It was just more to start another process of my life after all these years in the NHL. I think sometimes as linesmen in our league, in lots of leagues, they don't get a lot of supervision."
Lazarowich was only 22 when he was hired as an NHL linesman after working the 1986 Memorial Cup in Portland, Ore. His first NHL game was in Winnipeg between the Jets and Buffalo Sabres. He's worked in the BCHL, WHL, World Cups, international games in North America and Europe and Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final in 2003 between New Jersey and Anaheim.
He's logged 1,800 regular-season games and 200 playoff games and is one of only five officials to have worked 2,000 NHL games.
Lazarowich said now it's time for him to give back and help young linesmen pursue their dreams. His dream to pursue a career as an NHL official started early.
"It's weird you just get a jersey when you're younger and it's something you like to do and see how far you can take it," he said. "I was pretty motivated too. They said I wasn't a good skater, so I took power skating and figure skating. They said I wasn't big enough and I went to the gym."
In high school, Lazarowich said he found a mentor who guided him throughout his pursuit of his dream and now he's trying to pay if forward.
"I'm trying to tell them they've got to fight through the bad days and adversity of this job and keep working at it because that's what someone did for me," said Lazarowich. "They need time and they need people to come down here with experience to talk to them and try to make them better."
When dealing with coaches and players who are going to try to get the officials to see things their way, and hockey fans hurling insults and sometimes objects at the official on the ice, Lazarowich said young officials need the iron will not to take it personally.
"I always preach on courage," said Lazarowich. "The two words I use a lot are hope and courage. If you hope to make the right call, if you hope to be in the right position it's not going to work; you have to have the courage to step up and make the call."
He added it's important for young officials to remember to treat disrespect with respect and to conduct themselves professionally both on and off the ice.
The NHL has 77 officials with 66 of them working full time and the other 11 working in the minor leagues. Wannabe NHL officials have a tough time cracking the league just like hockey players do. The average age for a new NHL official is about 27.
"I was very fortunate," said Lazarowich. "I grew up just knowing one way to do it and that's the NHL way."
Lazarowich said he wants to develop more officials in the northern areas of B.C., starting with the Coliseum camp, which attracted about a dozen kids.
"I think all areas of B.C. should be developing our officials," he said. "Great players come from small towns and great officials can come from small towns. The B.C. Hockey League develops coaches, players and officials and we're just part of that process."
Training camp for NHL officials starts Sept. 7 in Toronto where they go through fitness and medical tests to make sure they're fit to work a 75-game schedule. Lazarowich said he's on the road 22 days a month, working 70 road games and five in Vancouver.
